Since Monday night, I have received multiple nasty anonymous e-mails from people who say they are city employees. I even received a phone call traced to a pay phone at Kent State University.
First, I challenge you to actually provide some contact information so I can respond. Second, when you call me “immature,” yet your message lacks substance and includes only personal attacks, I have to ask which person is immature. Third, your premises are completely inaccurate: My plan includes no layoffs.
If you are a city employee, you must ignore the fear-mongering from the Good Ole Boy Network. Below, I pasted the EXACT wording of the amendments I’m proposing for the budget. No one’s job is mentioned.
1) Withdrawing $100,000 from the Lodging Tax fund to offset the use of unencumbered funds.
2) Reducing the Golf Course expenditures by $38,994.18 (3 percent).
3) Reducing the Parks and Recreation total expenditures (including funds for Administration, Recreation, Facility Improvement, and Parks Maintenance) by $158,553.60 (10 percent).
4) Otherwise reducing the total budget expenditures by $69,357.81 — cuts to be spread equitably across salaries of employees (non-union, non civil service, non-contract, and non-elected) earning in excess of $60,000.
5) Resolution agreeing among city council members to reject $1,660 each in 2010 earnings (10 percent).
Yes, I am proposing cuts to managerial salaries. Below, I will copy and paste the salaries that will be affected:
PS-City Engineer 100,796.80
Planning-Director 100,796.80
PS-Assistant City Engineer Road 95,035.20
PS-Assistant City Engineer Water 89,689.60
PS-Assistant Director 88,046.40
PS-Dep. Engineer Plans Examiner 83,158.40
Planning-Assistant Director 81,515.20
Finance-Deputy Director 79,497.60
PS-Superintendent Water 79,497.60
P&R-Director 77,958.40
PS-IS Project Manager 72,384.00
PS-Senior Engineer Storm 68,931.20
Planning-Economic Development 68,140.80
P&R-Manager 67,371.20
PS-Chief Inspector 67,371.20
Finance Coordinator-IS 67,371.20
Law-Deputy Director 67,246.40
PS-IS Network Administrator 63,668.80
PS-Superintendent Bldg. Main’t 61,172.80
Law-Asst. Director of Law 60,923.20
P&R-Supervisor Recreation 60,590.40
Police-Youth Services Coordinator 60,590.40
PS-Coordinator Comm. Information 60,590.40
PS-Superintendent Road 60,444.80
For employees making more than $80,000, the cut is 5 percent. For between $79,999 and $70,000, it is 4 percent. For between $69,999 and $60,000, it is 3 percent.
Council members (i.e. D’Antonio, Costello) talk up and down about fairness, fairness, fairness. I can’t speak on behalf of the administration, but I’ll be shocked if they don’t ask the unions to give up some money at the upcoming negotiations. Is it fair that a street worker has to give up money, while an employee making upwards of six figures does not? Absolutely not!
I feel that this government is top-heavy. Managers must take a pay cut, just like the unions did. I think it would be a travesty if city council did not chip in, as well. That is the reason I am proposing a 10 percent cut for council. (And yes, I’m fully aware of the charter provision preventing this. This should not prevent council from doing the right thing.)
City council seems content to push off today’s problems to next year. It seems not to care that we are taking $1.1 million from our roads fund to offset irresponsible spending. It wants to ignore this courthouse transfer that is speculative at best. I learned yesterday that NO BILL is currently being considered by any committee in the Ohio General Assembly. And yet the mayor thinks the bailout is coming. This is the sort of “positive thinking” that has compounded our problems.
I might not win this fight, but I’m not going to give up. If the people don’t like it, they shouldn’t have elected me. You have two years to put up with me questioning expenditures, asking the tough questions and presenting solutions.
And if you have something nasty to say, at least have the courage to give me a chance to respond. I have tough skin, and I’m not vindictive. These drive-by comments don’t help.
In other news…
The Finance Committee will meet at 6:15 tomorrow to discuss the budget. The mayor has asked the Booster Club to attend in order to protest my proposals regarding Fox Den. Below is the message to the club:
As you may have read, the City of Stow is currently wrestling with how to address a current budget shortfall.
One of the most highly contested means of reducing the City’s budget would be the sale of Fox Den Golf Course. Whether you initially supported the City’s purchase of the golf course, or rejected the concept from the start, the current reality is that the City owns this asset, and a sale at this time would likely result in a significant financial loss for the City.
As the home course for the Stow-Munroe Falls High School golf teams, Fox Den serves as a wonderful resource for both the girls and boys golf teams, and represents the best alternative for these teams. Further, when one considers the current state of our School District’s financial situation, the current mutually beneficial relationship that exists between the District and the City in support of our golf teams generates a win-win-win situation that goes well beyond the dollars-and-cents calculation, but strengthens our sense of community as well.
Mayor Fritschel, long a supporter of our Booster Club, has requested that the Club lend its support in favor of keeping the golf course, as opposed to selling this asset, in an effort to meet short-term municipal budgetary objectives. The Booster Club is being asked to show its support in favor of keeping Fox Den by attending the Stow City Council Committee meeting this Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers located at 3760 Darrow Rd.
A strong showing of Booster Club support at this meeting sends a very important message to the leaders of our community, and reinforces Booster Club’s role as a civic organization in the greater Stow-Munroe Falls community. Please give every consideration to attending this meeting to either express your thoughts on keeping this valuable community resource, or as a demonstration of mass support for this effort. Parents, Coaches, student athletes, fans and supporters of our teams, are all encouraged to weigh in on this very important issue.
Thank You,
Stow-Munroe Falls Booster Club